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Utah man charged with kidnapping, rape had similar charges dismissed in 2016

Posted at 4:36 PM, Jan 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-10 09:00:28-05

TOOELE, Utah — Two years ago, police booked Casey Ray Nielsen into Salt Lake County Jail on one count of rape, a first-degree felony.

Nielsen's arrest came after a SWAT situation outside a Salt Lake City residence.

In April 2016, a woman came to police and told police she had been held against her will. According to the probable cause statement from Nielsen's April 2016 arrest, the victim had gone to Nielsen's residence to pick up her missing vehicle. While there, she noticed her purse and phone were missing from the vehicle.

The victim told police Nielsen asked her to wait while he got her phone, and directed her to a room. The victim told police Nielsen then wouldn't let her leave. According to the probable cause statement, the victim told police Nielsen had sex with her without her consent, and offered her heroin after. She escaped when Nielsen left the door of the room open.

According to court documents, Nielsen was also charged with object rape and aggravated kidnapping for the April 2016 incident.

In July 2016, all charges were dismissed without prejudice.

In December 2018, two years later, a woman reported to police in Tooele that she had been kidnapped and raped by a male later identified as Nielsen, according to a probable cause statement.

The victim told police she was taken to a residence with a pillowcase over her head and her hands tied with a rope by another male, who handed her off to Nielsen.

Sgt. Jeremy Hansen with Tooele Police Department said it wasn't necessarily shocking to see Nielsen's name pop back up as a suspect, especially with how his case was dismissed a few years back.

"These types of cases, they're horrible. You start learning the details and we have a lot of sympathy for the victims, what they've gone through." Hansen said.

According to the probable cause statement, the victim said Nielsen had a handgun inside the detached garage he led her to, and he blocked the entrance of the room, preventing her from leaving.

The probable cause statement said the victim told police she felt afraid of Nielsen.

According to the probable cause statement, Nielsen proceeded to give the victim several injections of an unknown substance. The victim told police she remembered Nielsen taking her pants off and pulling her from a chair, placing her on top of his lap.

The victim told police she didn't remember what happened after, but she did remember waking up and feeling pain and discomfort consistent with sexual assault, according to the probable cause statement.

Nielsen allegedly then covered the victim's face with a pillowcase, leading her out of the residence and putting her inside a car. While the car was driving, according to the probable cause statement, the victim pulled the steering wheel and caused Nielsen to crash the car, allowing her to escape.

"She bailed out and left the vehicle on foot," Sgt. Hansen said. "Then [the victim] started texting a family member, the family member contacted us."

Police served a search warrant on December 18, 2018, 12 days after the victim made her report. According to the probable cause statement, officers found several items the victim described inside the room she said she was kept in.

The probable cause statement said police showed a photo of the victim to the homeowner, who confirmed the victim was inside the detached garage with Nielsen. The homeowner also told police, according to the probable cause statement, that she saw the victim not wearing pants at one point and the victim appeared to be disoriented.

On January 4, 2019, police interviewed the male accused of kidnapping the victim and placing a pillowcase over her head and tying her hands. The male denied putting the pillowcase over the victim's head and tying her hands and also told police the victim left the house on her own, according to the probable cause statement.

Police interviewed Nielsen on January 7 of this year. According to the probable cause statement, Nielsen said he didn't recognize the victim when he was shown a photo of her and claimed he was with a different woman who was there willingly. Nielsen also denied driving a vehicle with the victim inside and having any sexual activity with the victim.

When Nielsen was located he had a backpack which police searched. According to the probable cause statement, police found a pipe and several used needles. Nielsen admitted to police he had used meth, heroin, and marijuana.

Nielsen is currently in Tooele County Jail, charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, rape and possession of drug paraphernalia.